Fireseekers:Desperate Praying

Week 1 of Fire Seekers*

Tuesday devotionals, called "Fire Seekers," focus on two things--intercession and intimacy. Intercession that flows out of intimacy with God has joy, power, and wonderful results. Uneven numbered weeks will focus on intercession; even numbered weeks will be reflections on Solomon's Song of Songs.

Desperate Praying

A pastor recalled being in a prayer meeting with about 60 powerful intercessors who were earnestly calling out to God. As he listened to them pray for two hours, he thought, They have something I don't.

As he pondered that prayer meeting the next few days, the word "desperation" kept coming to him. These people, desperate for God to answer their prayers, prayed with a fervency his prayers often lacked.

Desperate Praying Satisfies God

Isaiah, speaking of the Father and His Son, stated, "He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied" (Isaiah 53:11 KJV). When we pour out our strong emotion for others, God sees and is satisfied. He is satisfied because it allows Him to answer our prayers.

"As soon as Zion travailed, she brought forth her children" (Isa. 66:8 NKJV). The word "travail" means to "be in anguish." Paul understood this type of praying and wrote to the Galatians, "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you" (4:19).

When Jesus "approached Jerusalem and saw the city, he wept over it" (Luke 19:41). No doubt Jesus is still weeping over our cities, our churches, and our families, and longs for us to share in His weeping.

Often it will be needs in our own family that teach us to travail in prayer. Hannah prayed desperately because of her inability to bear a child. After weeping and pouring out her heart to the Lord, she reaped her reward. "Hannah became pregnant and gave birth to a son" (1 Sam.1:20). God answers desperate prayer!

Ask for a Spirit of Supplication

Although the following verses refer to the Jewish people, the principle remains. Deep mourning for the sinful condition of others opens the cleansing fountain.

"I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son...

"On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity" (Zech. 12:10, 13:1).

When our cry for revival resembles the mourning and humility described in Zech. 12:10, the fountain of cleansing will be opened for those we pray for.

Prayer Focus

Will you join me in asking God to pour out a spirit of grace and supplication on His people? (The word "supplication" is often translated "cry for mercy.)

Thank You, God, that Your ears are open to desperate praying. I confess, though, that my prayers too often lack fervency. Will You pour out on me and upon all who long for revival a Spirit-given desperation, so we can pray with great fervency and deep humility? I ask this in the Name of Jesus who is even now praying for us. Amen.